[Noise]

When will you people learn, it is extremely bad form to use shortcuts created on one machine on another machine. Shortcuts remember the machine they were created on and, by default, they will try to connect to that machine first when you double-click them. This will introduce un-needed delays and network activity.

You can make the shortcuts "stupid" before you copy them using the shortcut.exe ms utility. Or you can turn off "link tracking" in windows. Better yet, don't do it - it's amateurish! Always install re-create the shortcuts using a script or utility.

[maxXPsoft]

Do what? I think you got this out of context with maybe reality?
This copys those for YOUR Machine and Quicklaunch, not others lol

[Noise]

maxXPsoft, on Jul 27 2005, 08:20 AM, said:

#6 - Now go to Documents and Settings\Your User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer and copy the Quick Launch folder to XPCD\$OEM$\$1\Install\. ...

THIS = BAD! BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD !!!

You are copying shortcut files (.lnk) from one machine (your development machine) to another machine (the PC you're building).

[maxXPsoft]

Nois3
What happens when XP encounters a shortcut thats invalid? Gives you that stuff about removing it or either goes off looking for Target and attempts to correct it.
That don't happen with this, never has in as I said about 2 years If the Target is still there then it simply opens it and adjusts anything needing adjusted.
I have several pointing to different drive's and they work like a charm.

Its the same as modding dlls and pratically all the files on a setup which has been occuring here long before you or I came here and it will continue to happen in a quest for that knowledge.
Thats what Msfn is all about.

This post has been edited by maxXPsoft: 02 August 2005 - 04:08 PM

[Noise]

maxXPsoft,

You're not understanding the issue here. And that's understandable, because very few people really know whats going on with shortcut (.lnk) files.

Try this:
1. Manually create a link to notepad on your desktop.
2. Copy that .lnk file to another computer.
3. Double-click the copied link.
4. Note the delay before notepad actually starts.
5. Now go into Start/Programs and double-click the regular notepad link.

Notice the difference? If you don't, you probably have link-tracking disabled in the registry (good thing to do btw). I'm talking about regular everyday shortcuts here. Shortcut files remember the name of the PC they were created on. The issue I'm talking about here has nothing to do with NTFS.

When you run them on another computer, Windows will "sometimes" try to access the originating PC over the network. To really see this you need 2 PC's with different names on separate networks. The delay can sometimes be quite pronounced, In NT4 I've seen it take minutes to timeout and then finally try and access the program on the local PC.

In my first sysadmin job (a long long time ago) this was a huge problem. I built all the PC's with .lnk files I developed on a test machine. We constantly had performance problems when people tried to start their applications. We also noticed a lot of undue network activity during these delays. It was a well learned lesson when we finally figured out what was going on. When we scripted the creation of these shortcuts (using shortcut.exe instead of copying them, the problem disappeared.

The registry fix is explained here.

[maxXPsoft]

Quote

Try this:
1. Manually create a link to notepad on your desktop.
2. Copy that .lnk file to another computer.
3. Double-click the copied link.
4. Note the delay before notepad actually starts.
5. Now go into Start/Programs and double-click the regular notepad link.

lolololol I done that and it takes maybe a millisecond to open Notepad either way, I don't notice any difference on XP. What are you running? NT, just a guess cause most Corps are still running that. We have a few 2000 and all time clocks and Office personnel have XP Pro.

lol yes I remember those delays
Back on a 486 50mhz SX running 3.1 WFW, nowadays we're talking milliseconds with XP. It grunts and wants to delete or it goes out and finds it in very short time.

I'm not talking shortcuts to the Network or other computer's either by the way. My shortcuts are to applications installed to either %ProgramFiles%\APP I want A Quicklaunch or to another drive on my PC which remains the same since I'm formatting my C or D partition for my tests.

These things work for Intended purposes. They also work for most the people who download and run my program that know what they are doing.

I'm sorry Nois3 but I think that what you're saying is yesterday's news if you running XP.

[Noise]

Ignore it if you want. It probably won't be an issue to you personally in the long run. As far as NT4 goes, I was telling a story of how I came upon this issue. This applies to XP and 2K3 also.

But the fact is you'll be using shortcuts that contain invalid data in them. If you do things like this in an enterprise environment you will have problems. Shortcuts should be created on the system in which they'll be used, period.

<edited out because it was mean>

This post has been edited by Nois3: 16 August 2005 - 05:34 PM

[maxXPsoft]

Sorry about my lol but you said try it and it didn't fail for me. Another thing is I checked all the properties and it changed it on the other PC. So I go looking,
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default....ts/shortcut.asp

Quote

If a user creates a shortcut to an object and the name or location of the object is later changed, the system automatically takes steps to update, or resolve, the shortcut the next time the user selects it.

We're talking very short time on today's faster computer's.
I see nothing in that about a pointer to a specific PC. Only the path.

[maxXPsoft]

I can see where network paths might not work cause I do know all about that from where I work.

I also know that I have several shortcuts in my Windows\Desktop folder in my Network Share and they do work when I logon somewhere else. Thats on NT and 2000 PCs we have at work. Most those point to other drives within the network, its not like I'm starting an app on the C: drive of my primary workstation

This post has been edited by maxXPsoft: 16 August 2005 - 06:01 PM

[Kapo]

but two question...

Is there a regmod for unhide the quicklaunch only?

And what is the script for rebuilding links on the new machine?

(or links )
thanks.

This post has been edited by Kapo: 12 September 2005 - 04:08 PM

[maxXPsoft]

Kapo, on Sep 12 2005, 12:56 PM, said:

but two question...
Is there a regmod for unhide the quicklaunch only?

I believe there is but I haven't looked for it. Perhaps in the registry tweaks post in pinned topics.

Quote

And what is the script for rebuilding links on the new machine?
(or links )

.lnk
No scripts, you're copying them to the correct location.

As I explained above, nothing in a shortcut is proprietary to any machine. Link to code above proves that as I have been using similar code to do same thing for year's.
As long as the PATH Is same then they will work.

[Kapo]

so is not true the reference to the machine of the creation of the link?

[maxXPsoft]

No its not true, look at the link to the source code that creates them.

You could also use shortcut.exe to do this for you.

[Takeshi]

If I have read it correctly, since you don't need the 2nd reg then this should no longer be necessary:

"REGEDIT /S quicklaunch2.reg"

[lizard1]

@maxxpsoft

You should have read the link you posted (which was very interesting, btw).

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default....ts/shortcut.asp

Quote

When a Shell link is created, the system saves information about the link. When resolving a link—either automatically or with an Resolve call—the system first retrieves the path associated with the Shell link by using a pointer to the Shell link's identifier list. For more information about the identifier list, see Item Identifiers and Identifier Lists. The system searches for the associated object in that path and, if it finds the object, resolves the link. If the system cannot find the object, it calls on the Distributed Link Tracking and Object Identifiers (DLT) service, if available, to locate the object. If the DLT service is not available or cannot find the object, the system looks in the same directory for an object with the same file creation time and attributes but with a different name. This type of search resolves a link to an object that has been renamed.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/fi...identifiers.asp
states the following:

Quote

To search for name spaces

  1. Search four directory levels down from the last directory.
  2. Move up one directory and repeat steps 1 and 2 another three times, which can yield results if the object has moved nearby.
  3. Search four levels down from the desktop root, which can yield results if the object has moved to a location on the same desktop.
  4. Search four levels down from the root on each local fixed drive.
  5. Repeat steps 1-3 without the four directory limit.

Note: These link tracking schemes are transparent to the end user. However, they do not always yield positive results, and can be time consuming.

and:

Quote

If a link is made to a file on an NTFS file system on Windows 2000 or later, and the file is moved to any other NTFS file system on Windows 2000 or later within the same domain, the file can be found by the tracking service, subject to time considerations. Additionally, if the file is moved outside the domain or within a workgroup, it is found.

[Kapo]

i don't find shortcut.exe, someone has a free link?

[`Felix`]

Hi People,

This is an interesting thread and something that i will try out, as another option, i wrote a guide sometime ago specifically for using the Quicklaunch features, feel free to have a look and see what you think.

Customizing the Default User Profile : Enabling the Quick Launch Toolbar

[maxXPsoft]

lizard1
I've read it but thats in C which i partially understand. I have the code in VB which I use and I know exactly what each thing does.
My Point being that theres nothing machine specific about this, maybe in the old pifmgr day's but just not anymore.
I stated in very first line of the very first post that this is for XP and not VM either, I run this same thing on my old 450 with XP as I do on my 1800 and have no delays, If it don't exist it pops the error dialog in a fraction of a second. I can't even blink that fast

`Felix`
interesting but I've used that for quite some time, its what I do to load the different hives for each user in my XPPolicy app to modify and set policies for each. A backdoor method I guess.

If you don't want to use this then don't, GO elsewhere
Its 1 method of doing it

This post has been edited by maxXPsoft: 20 September 2005 - 03:56 PM

[urie]

Maxx, still can't believe this thread is still going on if they would only use your UnattendXP program they would see that your method works:))100%

[lizard1]

@maxxpsoft

It seems you still haven't read the MSDN articles or my quotes from them.

Quote

I've read it but thats in C which i partially understand. I have the code in VB which I use and I know exactly what each thing does.
My Point being that theres nothing machine specific about this, maybe in the old pifmgr day's but just not anymore.

That's bul*****.


How do you think all these link tracking features that Microsoft describes in their article
would be possible without machine specific data in the .lnk file?


Do the following:
1. create a shortcut.
2. Open a cmd and type "move <your shortcut>.lnk <your shortcut>.txt"
3. Open it with notepad.

You will see your computername and your partitions volume label in
cleartext.


"It worked for two years for me and many others" is not an argument. Absolutely not.